Oklahoma has been included in most of the 2025 preseason college football top-25 rankings that have been issued to date, and on Tuesday, FOX college football analyst Joel Klatt released his preseason top 25 with the Sooners in the No. 24 spot.
Sooner football fans can take some solace from Klatt's inclusion of OU in his preseason top 25, because 24 hours earlier, a panel of college football coaches thumbed their noses at Oklahoma, excluding the Sooners from the preseason coaches poll for the first time since 1999.
John Mateer boosts OU's preseason expectations
Oklahoma actually gained a spot from its No. 25 position in Klatt's post-spring way-too-early top 25. Penn State was his No. 1 choice back in the spring, and the Nittany Lions remained in the top spot, followed by Texas, Ohio State, Clemson and Oregon, respectively. So Klatt is going with three Big Ten teams in his top five.
"I had some trouble filling out the last few teams on this list, so I went with the teams that I trust the most," Klatt wrote. "With Oklahoma, I also trust its quarterback: Washington State transfer John Mateer."
Klatt knows a thing or two about quarterbacks, having played the position as a starter at Colorado. About Mateer he wrote more: "I really like him. He's got a great arm, is accurate and very athletic and should improve Oklahoma right away."
Nine SEC teams were included in Klatt's preseason top 25: No. 2 Texas, No. 7 Georgia, No. 8 LSU, No. 9 Georgia, No. 11 South Carolina, No, 14 Florida, No. 16 Texas A&M, No. 21 Ole Miss and No. 24 Oklahoma. The Big Ten was the next most with seven teams, and five Big 12 teams were included.
The Associated Press Preseason Top 25, which is voted on by members of the media, is scheduled for release on Monday. This will be the 90th year for the AP college football preseason top 25. The Sooners have been ranked in the preseason poll 66 times and 10 times as preseason No. 1.
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